Monday, April 20, 2009

Every time I post to this blog, I’m all, “So I have some news…” My life is basically one news item after another. Exciting stuff that is.

Right… um… so I have some news. Following in the footsteps of Lindy and CR and others I’m sure, after much consideration, I accepted the offer to pace lead the 12 minute per mile half marathon training group this summer for Chicago Endurance Sports. Only the whole thing was less me “accepting” and more me “begging” as if I don’t have enough to do with myself this summer.

Truly I’ve wanted to be a pace leader for awhile now. I feel pretty comfortable with the half marathon distance at this point and even on a bad day, I can *fingers crossed* phone in 10 miles or less. Ok so that’s only true some of the time, but I trust my body with 13 miles. I know, for the most part, what’s going to happen, good, bad, ugly, or otherwise. The marathon distance, not so much. And, rumor has it, I’m chatty, which is a quality people like in a pace leader, supposedly. I’m hoping I have some newbies so I can be all inspirational on their asses.

Speaking of half marathons, the weather has finally, sort of, warmed up (sometimes) and Meg and I managed to settle nicely into the longest training runs for the upcoming Indy Mini Marathon. Last weekend's 10 mile run, as well as Saturday’s 11 mile run, were solid bordering on phenomenal, so we’re as ready as we’ll ever be. Here’s to hoping for good weather, a good run, and a good meal with friends and family (my sister and the infamous Lars are coming!). Our final long run is a cut back, 8 miles, this weekend and then it’s off to (hopefully) sunny and (at least sort of) warm Indianapolis.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Oh dear God, yes... I was there. And no, I don't really want to talk about it, but I will because that's what I do.

I can't lie to you. If it weren't for MM, there is NO WAY I would have gone downtown to run that godforsaken race. I would have woken up, heard thunder, not even looked out the window to see, ta-freaking-da, Chicago covered in a blanket of white shit on Marchfuckingthirtieth, and promptly fallen back to sleep in my warm, DRY bed for another four to six hours.

But no, MM dragged me--against my will--through the elements so I could risk life and limb (mostly limb) to run a measly five miles. At the start line, I had visions (visions!) of being taken to the hospital to have toes removed. How stupid would I feel when for the rest of my life I would think back to this race and shake my head and say, "If I had only stayed in bed, I would still have my toes."

I'm actually being serious. I believed that toe removal was imminent.

But no matter. I am here. Alive. Fully toed.

Anyway...

It wasn't my worst Shamrock Shuffle. It was my second worse, and that's just fine considering the circumstances. And yes, there's a tiny weeny part of me that is happy I stuck with tradition. Race season 2009 is officially here. Here's to hoping it only gets better from here. I mean, we deserve a little good weather at this point, don't we Mother Nature? I mean COME ON. Help a runner out!

In other news... MM and I booked our honeymoon! We're going to a little bed and breakfast type place in Cabo San Lucas. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Oh god. I could go on forever. I spent months staring at TripAdvisor, which is a fantastic site, but overwhelming after you've read reviews for every last all inclusive resort on earth. Finally, I had a moment of clarity along the lines of something genius like, "why the hell am I only looking at all inclusive resorts?" I think theknot.com and its bitchtastic community forums had me brainwashed into thinking that our honeymoon would be incomplete without swim up bars, mediocre "International" buffets, and an uninterupted IV of frozen pina colada being pumped into our veins. It was liberating to move beyond all inclusives, and after I was given much needed advice on where oh where we should go, I narrowed down the location and found the most perfect place ever.

Nice to Meet You

I'm a new, working mom, living in the Chicagoland 'burbs, who loves to write and does her best to keep up on this now six-year-old blog. I write about fitness, food, health, the kid, and generally whatever else my brain dumps here. So... good luck with that.